News
ConnectME Authority Announces $500,000 Grant Program
July 17, 2007
AUGUSTA, MAINE – The ConnectME Authority has developed a grant program to expand Mainers’ access to broadband service. The first $500,000 in grants will be targeted to areas of the state that do not have any form of broadband service available.
Applicants could include municipalities, co-ops, community groups, and small broadband service providers. “Those are organizations we believe can meet the challenge of extending broadband access in a rural state,” said Dan Breton, the authority’s chairman. “The grants should help more Maine citizens -- and Maine businesses -- to gain the full benefits of participation in the online world.”
The grant application process is designed to be easy to understand and simple to complete. Applicants submit a pre-application letter briefly describing their project and funding request. The Authority will review those letters and pick a small group of promising project applicants, who will be asked to submit a more detailed proposal. The pre-application form is available on the ConnectME website. The filing deadline for the pre-application letter is August 15, 2007. The Authority hopes to make funding commitments by the end of September 2007.
The ConnectME Authority was created to assist in Governor John Baldacci’s goal of providing broadband service to 90% of Maine households by 2010. The Governor appointed five members to the Authority’s Board last year. They are Chairman Daniel B. Breton the Director of Governmental Affairs in Maine for Verizon, Mitchel W. Davis, Chief Information Officer for Bowdoin College, Jean Wilson, Vice President of Information Services at LL Bean, Richard B. Thompson, Chief Information Officer for Maine State Government, and Kurt Adams, Chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
